Teen Time Spent Online Grows Rapidly; Now Over 4 Hours Per Day

Consumer Attitudes

January 16, 2014 - Consumer research firm GfK’s latest multimedia tracking reports show that U.S. teenagers’ time spent online is growing faster than that of any other key age group, thanks to a variety of devices – smartphones, tablets, videogame consoles, and connected TVs.

Key findings:

Time spent online by teens (ages 13 to 17) rose 37%, to just over 4 hours per day, compared to the beginning of 2012; by contrast, online minutes remained essentially flat for those aged 18 to 64, 18 to 54, and even 18 to 49.

The teens’ increases in being connected were driven by tablets (up 157%, to over a half hour daily), smartphones (up 72%, to over an hour a day), and smart TVs (up 86%, to 13 minutes daily).

Smartphone ownership among the 13-to-17 group jumped 70%, from 35% to 55%, in just the past year.

Teen tablet ownership doubled, from 18% to 37%, in the same timeframe.

About: MultiMedia Mentor® tracks time spent online for eight key media, as well as a variety of demographic information. The Spring 2013 data was collected in interviews with 2,642 members of KnowledgePanel® -- an online panel derived from a statistically projectable sample of the U.S. population. Interviewing for this latest wave of Mentor data was conducted between February and July 2013 with panel members ages 13 to 64. The Home Technology Monitor™ tracks ownership and use of dozens of consumer media devices and services, from videogame consoles to DVRs. The data on technology ownership by teens came from its How People Use® Media: Over-the-Top TV report. The smartphone and tablet ownership data above came from these reports.